32 Chapter 6 (11): Audience, part 2

Chapter 6 (11): Audience, part 2

"The lies of a demon, even - no, especially - one such as the Demon Lord, shouldn't be trusted. The God of Light Lars has decreed that the demons are a blight upon the land and must be exterminated, and thus cannot be trusted to speak the truth. Do not listen to this foul being one moment lon-" (Priest)

"Lars, you say? That's what I was going to talk about next. This church that follows the teachings of the God of Light called Lars has been around for, what, six hundred years? The demon general called Lars has been around for fifteen times as long, and that's only the most recent one. The house of Lars has been a prominent family of demons for several hundred thousand years, and they haven't had any divine punishment from the God who supposedly hates demons, and who shares his name. Furthermore, among the ten original Gods, none rule over any element, nor are any of them named Lars. In fact, none have formal names" (Ryuu)

"The ten original Gods, you say? How would an unholy being such as a demon know anything of the holiest of beings, the Gods, or their realm? And what do you mean by 'ten original' Gods? There are only seven Gods, ruling over the seven main elements, and they have existed since the beginning of ti-" (Priest)

"Because demons aren't unholy beings, they too receive the love of the Gods. Think about it. If the Gods control all of the elements, and Lars, who is in control of light, hates demons and the Demon Lord, why would there be demons that can use light magic? Why can I use it, and every other element?" (Ryuu)

As I spoke, I created a small ball of light above the palm of my outstretched hand.

"It's because one or more of those assumptions is wrong. Either none of the Gods hate demons and the Demon Lords, or those that do don't have enough power over any given element to make demons unable to use that element" (Ryuu)

"But most demons don't have the ability to use light magic. Lars has forsaken them, though some, like yourself may use it through some unholy means" (Priest)

"In that case, elves are forsaken by the Gods of fire and dark, and dwarves have been forsaken by the Gods of light, water, and wind, no? In fact, one could say that, if there were a God controlling the number of elements a person has, humans would have been forsaken by that God, as they tend to have fewer elements than other races. Explaining that kind of thing with the phrase 'forsaken by a God' is a double-edged sword" (Ryuu)

"Enough! This is not the time or place to be debating theology. Considering that Ryuu has been in these lands for more than two months, and she hasn't caused any problems for us, I see no reason to think that she is evil. Furthermore, in that time, no, since the previous Demon Lord died, the church has not said anything about there being another Demon Lord or any demon in these lands. I think that serves to show that there isn't a God named Lars who sees Ryuu as a threat. As such, I wish for the church to not interfere with the state in regards to this matter. Besides, I myself feel that the invasion was a mistake. The demon lands hadn't done anything to us that we had proof of, and they didn't invade us in return even until the end. The only deaths on our side were soldiers, but more than half of theirs were ordinary noncombatant citizens. They poisoned our water and food, yes, but that was after we assassinated their leaders. If they had wanted to, they could have taken my head, I'm sure of it, based on what I can see of Ryuu. In fact, Ryuu on her own could probably fight anyone and everyone here and come out unscathed. Am I wrong?" (King)

"Of course that can't be true! We have-" (Priest)

"It's probably true, actually. Using her foe's weapon of choice, she has proven that she can hold her own against A and S rank adventurers. If fighting how she wished... Well, first off, if she was serious, she could kill the normal guards here with just her aura" (HM)

"What is your basis for that claim?" (Priest)

"Ryuu... please remove three" (HM)

I took off my dagger, one earring, and one bracelet, causing my aura to grow to a thousand times its prior strength.

"That's three of my seven limiters. That is the aura of someone with 50000 mana. I have five hundred million. In other words, this aura, strong enough to make some people piss themselves in fear, isn't even close to what it could be. I could kill someone with just my aura, actually, I have done so a few times, to people such as bandits, assassins, and someone who tried to kill those near me due to who I was" (Ryuu)

"As for the claim that she could best A and S ranks in their own fields... well, you could talk to the A ranked Tsuchikami Triplets, Aaron, the Eagle Eye Archer, and more of my instructors, as they all lost to her. I might remind you that she also killed two greater wyverns with one spell, and that was while she was holding back. No, if she wanted to, she could probably level this country by herself. Seriously, don't make her mad" (HM)

"I probably could, however, I really do not like people who kill innocent bystanders... and I also have plenty of people in this country who I'd hate to have die, so the chances of me trying to do so are nil" (Ryuu)

"I'm... glad to hear that... but... if the Demon Lords are that powerful, how did Diablo die to poison? Why did he need an army to drive off ours?" (King)

"I'm far more powerful than an above-average Demon Lord, for your information. Still, while my father could have driven off your army on his own, he chose not to, as he would then be the only thing that you'd think was stopping you, our best line of defense. Then, when he died, we'd be back to square one. Meanwhile, if he used an army to drive you off, you'd have to wait until our army was gone. As to how or why he died, it's simple. He didn't have any resistance to poison, nor did he have healing magic to neutralize it, so he died from it" (Ryuu)

From there, the conversation lasted several more hours, and it ended with an agreement to not disclose the information about me or Ver to the public and one in regards to us trying to suppress the radical factions of our respective nations and then build a good relationship, as well as one stating that the government wouldn't interfere with my being an adventurer or anything like that. I was offered the second prince's hand in marriage, but I declined, and then I was offered the third princess instead after he remembered that I seem to prefer females, and declined that offer too, saying that I didn't care for a political marriage of any kind, that I wanted to marry based on mutual love. I know, it's idealistic and impractical, but... I already have five, so it must work in some cases, right? Even so, I was forced to accept meeting her at a later date, and see if it might work after that. From rumors I heard later, it seemed that the third princess, a supposedly extremely beautiful, tomboyish girl by the name of Haru, was about my age, the daughter of one of the king's maids, who became a concubine after she gave birth to the princess, and I also learned that she didn't want to marry any man the king offered her, so people were wondering if she was a lesbian. I still don't want a political marriage, but if she's actually into girls... maybe? It's better than a loveless marriage, I guess. Still... I haven't even been officially coronated, and now? Marrying the princess of another country? Gimme a break, that's just... I want to have fun and live as I want, and that doesn't include being bogged down by politics and similar crap.